Patent Document 1 below has made publicly known an airbag system for protecting a pedestrian which is configured so that: a folded airbag made of cloth is stored inside a pillar garnish for covering a front surface of a front pillar of an automobile; in collision with a pedestrian, gas produced by an inflator is supplied to the airbag, and thus deploys the airbag along the front surface of the front pillar from a rip which is made when the pillar garnish breaks; and the pedestrian is protected with the airbag thus deployed.
In addition, Patent Document 2 below has made publicly known a shock absorbing structure for protecting a pedestrian which is configured so that: a pillar garnish for covering a front surface of a front pillar of an automobile is supported by a pillar skeletal member with a link-type pillar driving mechanism being interposed in between; in collision with a pedestrian, the pillar driving mechanism lifts the pillar garnish up from the pillar skeletal member so as to allow the pillar garnish to make stroke motions; and the pillar garnish thus absorbs the collision energy.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-283939    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-282105